What Forgiveness Brings
by littlecleocat
Summary: Damon and Elena are trapped in the the tomb under the church with no hope of rescue. In such close quarters, who will spill their secrets first?


*Warning: There is mature content in this story!*

*Note: I do not own any of the right to Vampire Diaries*

* * *

"No, no, no!" Elena shouts scratching at the invisible wall of the tomb.

Kathrine smiles, "When Klaus is ready to get you, he will."

"Don't be stupid." Damon replies, arms folded and leaning against the back wall, "We are stuck behind an impenetrable force field, and where will you be? Running right into his trap"

"He doesn't need _my_ blood," she says, forcing Elena to look away, "besides, I've evaded him for 500 hundred years, you think that I can't do it again?"

"Not forever." Damon growls.

Kathrine smirks and looks at Elena, "Long enough. Your little boyfriend will keep burning through witches until he gets enough power to break you out."

Elena's face falls.

"Oh, wait, I forgot. You two are broken up." She fake pouts, "But here," Kathrine picks up a large leather duffle bag and tosses it to Damon.

"That's so you two know I'm rooting for you." she winks, "But seriously, if you die, Elijah will think I'm breaking his precious deal and come after me. So, no funny business." she says, eyeing Damon.

He smirks, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Well, see you around." Kathrine chuckles darkly, and then all that is left is are leaves rustling in the wind.

* * *

Later that night, Damon begrudgingly unpacks a quilt from the duffle bag, "You should sit." he gestures.

Elena continues pacing.

Damon sighs but eventually he settles on the quilt himself, sipping at his flask and watching her furrowed brow flicker with the light of the flames.

"Don't sweat it. We're stuck in here, but at least we're safe." Damon shrugges, and takes another swig.

The crunch of the leaves stop, and she whips around to face her former lovers brother, "Stefan is out there. Jeremey, Jenna, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, and even Tyler, _everyone_ I have ever cared about are out there." Her stare pushes him to meet her fiery gaze, "And everyone I ever cared about is going to die out there, because Klaus wants me! My blood! And there is nothing I can do to save them."

The silence lingers between them until Damon breaks away, "Everyone you ever cared about, eh?" He mutters under his breath, "I guess that's why I'm stuck in here." Now it was Elena's time to avoid his gaze.

He stares into the fire, "I should have known. How could you ever be friends with a dick like me, right?" Damon lets out a defeated chuckle.

Elena rolls her eyes with frustration, but uncrosses her arms, "I didn't mean it like that." She steps around the fire and stands at the edge of the quilt, "I was your friend, Damon."

"But I broke your trust- yadda yadda yadda." Damon recounts, and he pushes himself up from the quilt.

"Damon, please, hear me out." Elana reaches for him, but he recoils at her touch.

"I've heard it before." he spits.

"No, you haven't heard this..." Elana gingerly takes a set on the quilt.

Damon purses his lips, and glances towards the tomb entrance.

"From the beginning, ever since the first second we met, you have hurt everyone one around you. You hurt Caroline, you killed Lexi, and you were just reckless with human life." Damon shot a smug smile her way, but remained silent.

"And every time you hurt someone, I somehow found it in me to forgive you." Elena peers up at Damon, "I could see that you started trying, and caring, and well, I could see that you weren't the heartless monster you wanted the world to see."

Damon gulps, "Well, that's where you're wrong."

"Then you snapped Jeremy's neck in cold blood." Elena's tone darkens, "All that trust that had built up was torn down in an instant." She looks away, and her hand clenches the quilt.

Damon takes a step forward, bringing her attention back to him, and with all the energy he could muster he apologizes, "I am so sorry, Elena." Pain glints in his eyes.

Elena nods, acknowledging the apology, "And here's what's new. Even through all of this, I still can't stop forgiving you." she fidgets with a strand of hair, twirling it around her finger.

Damon's face flashes with confusion.

Elena grimaces, "I know you tried to kill my brother, and I know that you're the reason we got stuck in here, but somehow, I don't care about that." She lets out a shaky breath, "We aren't friends, and I don't trust you, but I do _care_ about you."

Damon shakes his head, and despite his best intentions, a genuine smile flashes across his face for a moment. Then it returns to its normal state: angry and sarcastic, "There's no way, after all I've done?"

Elena nods, and gives him a shy smile, but tears start flooding her face.

Damons brow furrows and suddenly he is kneeling beside her, "Elena?" She lets out another sob, and he finds himself being pulled into her embrace. He froze for a split second as she clung to him before he protectively wrapped his arms around her.

Pulling away, Elena searches Damon's face as she blinks through her tears, "I've gotten used to forgiving you, Damon. Everything you did, no matter how cruel, it was for love." Damon tensed up, and quickly leans away from her embrace.

Elena continues while staring at her hands that grip tightly to Damon's tattered black button up, "You loved Kathrine so much," she began, "and you couldn't stand the thought of her rotting away in this tomb." Damon leans back in a bit, but his shoulders stay tense.

"But Stefan, ever since the moment we met, he was the good guy, you know?" Elena stresses.

Damon chuckles darkly, but he keeps listening.

"Stefan didn't need to be forgiven, because I always saw his actions as just, or at least I convinced myself that they were. But now..."

Damon tilts his head, "But now what, Elena? He's still working his ass off to save you. As much as I hate to say it, he is doing everything for love."

"No, Stephan thinks he is doing it for me, but it's really for himself." Elena drops her head in defeat, resting it on Damon's shoulder.

Damon's whole body tenses up from her touch, and he gently pushes her away, "Elena." Damons warns.

"Damon, he pushed Bonnie too far, she made this place impenetrable to trap Katherine, but at what cost?" Damon opens his mouth to reply, but she persists, "Katherine had all the ingredients for the ritual, and she had passed the baton to Klaus's minions. Trapping Katherine here was for his own satisfaction. He lied to me for days, and used my friends and family for his stupid plan of revenge. If he did what I wanted, he would let me sacrifice myself for my family."

"You know we could never let that happen." Damon says sternly.

Elena ignores his comment, "But in the past, he always listened to me. He always let me make the decisions." She sobs, "Now Bonnie is in the hospital, Matt lost his job at the grill for good and Caroline has run away. I can't forgive him for this, I know you've done worse and I manage to forgive you, but I can't forgive him for this!"

"Elena, you know Stefan thought he was doing it all for the greater good."

"Really? My family and friends will be slaughtered if Klaus doesn't get what the wants, and I'll probably still die after that! Come on, Damon, you know better than anyone what happens when the bad guy doesn't get what he wants."

Damon blinks, "I know better than anyone? Oh, because I'm always the bad guy, right, Elena?" He scoffs, and stands up dusting off his tattered clothes and shaking his head.

"Damon, come on." Elena reaches out for him, but he pulls away.

"No, Elena, you come on." Damon's eyes were ablaze, "After you're whole little 'I forgive you for everything speech' you still don't treat me like I'm on your side! I had a plan, Elena. Together, we could have stopped Klaus!" Damon throws up his arms, "But no, you believed all of Stefan's lies, even when he was going behind your back, drinking human blood and manipulating everyone in sight." He is pacing now.

"Damon, I just meant that you used to be on the side of revenge." Elena tries to explain.

"Yeah, well that was a long time ago. Now Stefan is the one trying to get revenge, and I'm the one babysitting humans and trying to save everyone." Damon is fuming. He bangs on the tomb wall with his fist, hanging his head in anguish.

Elena stands up, and carefully approaches him, "Damon, I'm so sorry. You did everything right. Your plan would have worked, and I know that Stefan and I messed it all up." she rests a comforting hand on his back.

His shoulders slump, "And now anyone who could have known where to look for us is either unconscious in the hospital, or on the run." Damon sucks in a deep breath, "I can survive in her forever, but you-" his voice breaks, and he slams the wall again, releasing a wave of dust.

"Someone will find us soon, and Kathrine left me food and water." Elena reminds him, "You don't have to worry about me."

Damon shakes his head and looks up at Elena with his piercing blue eyes, "Don't you understand?" In a flash Elena is up against the wall, with Damon hulking over her.

Elena's eyebrows flinch, but she holds her ground.

"I could never stop worrying about you." Damon's eyes search hers for a hint of understanding.

"Why?" Elena whispers, although she suspects the answer.

Damon leans forward, the feeling of his breath against her neck makes her heart race, "You know why." and with one last longing stare, he pulls away, and returns to the quilt.

Elena stays against the tomb wall, trying to remember how to breathe.

* * *

They sit side by side on the quilt, watching the flames turn to embers.

Elena speaks first, "Stefan and I first broke up because I was afraid of Kathrine hurting my friends and family. Then we stayed apart because I didn't know if they were going to stay safe. Now, Stefan is the one who is putting them in danger, and I don't think I will ever forgive him."

Damon looks her up and down, "What about when this is all over?" he goes back to fidgeting with a loose thread on the edge of the quilt, "You always go back to him." the thread snaps.

Elena leans back against the stone wall, "People always talk about unconditional love. I love my family unconditionally, so I know it's real. When Jeremy betrays my trust, and does something reckless and selfish, I am able to push through all the hurt and love him anyway." Elena pauses and brushes away a tear, "Stefan on the other hand, the second he betrayed my trust, and hurt my family, I just couldn't take it. My heart closed to him so fast, I didn't have a chance to fight it."

Damon stares at her with disbelief.

Elena is quiet, tears streaming down her face, "My love for him just dried up, vanished, poof." She makes a weak explosion with her hands, "He is out there thinking that we are just in a small fight, while I sit here unable to tell him that I haven't loved him for weeks." Elena curls into a ball, her back heaving with sobs.

She feels Damon's hand on her shoulder, and she lifts her tear streaked face to see his face stricken with guilt.

"I-I thought," she hiccuped, "you would be gloating by now. You got what you wanted." she gives him a weak sarcastic smile.

"I never wanted to see you like this." he sighs.

Elena pulls him close as she sobs into his chest. This time he held onto her until long after the embers went dark.

* * *

Elena wakes to find Damon still holding her to his chest. His face lights up, "Good morning, it looks like someone got comfortable last night." he teases.

She playfully pushes him away, but the drained look on her face keeps his arms cradled around her.

Elena looks up at him and their eyes lock, "Thanks." she murmurs.

"For what?" he breaths, not daring to move a muscle.

She pulls him close, "For not letting go of me." She whispered into his ear.

His strong arms constrict around her, "Of course."

After a while, a loud grumble breaks the silence of the morning.

Breaking away, Elena clutches her stomach, looking up at Damon and biting her lip.

His serious face melts away and he laughs, "I can't believe your little human stomach can make so much noise!" He reaches for her belly, and feels another rumble, and they both break out into laughter.

She manages to grab his hand, and roll on top of him.

Elena laughs, "What is this? A vampire complaining about a humans appetite?" she smiles.

Flipping her over he smiles deviously, "And you think you could pin down a vampire?" he whispers into her neck, sending tingles down her spine. He holds both of her arms above her head, his nose runs along her collar bone winding up to her ear.

"Damon-" Elena sighs, her eyes fluttering.

"Yes?" he asks brushing his smirking lips against her ear.

She shivers, from the sensations but shakes it away, "Damon, this would kill Stefan."

"This is not about him, this is about us." Damon insists.

"Damon, look at me." she commands.

"Oh, trust me, I am." he replies, but he brings his eyes up to meet hers nevertheless.

"Damon, if we do this, we can't take it back." Elena says, not taking her eyes off his.

Damon replies a steady, "I know." he loosens his grip on her arms, and they sit up together.

"If I kiss you-" Elena bites her lower lip, and whispers, "What does that make us?"

Damon grins, "This speech already?" he teases, "For you, I'd be willing to go steady."

"Don't joke, please, not now." she pleads, taking his hand in hers.

His face falls, and his tone becomes grim, "Elena, I've wanted to tell you this so many times before, but I couldn't do that to you when I knew you were in love with my brother."

Elena sucks in a breath, her whole body tingles with what she knows is coming.

Damon's blue eyes stare at her with an intensity that would leave any girl dizzy for days, "I love you, Elena."

Elena savors the words, letting her mind finally go places it never was allowed to go before. At that moment, Elena feels free, like there are endless possibilities awaiting her if she could just stay here in his arms forever.

He continues, "I will love you forever and always, no matter what you do," he pauses and takes in a shaky breath, "Or how you feel about me."

Damon pushes on to ask something he's never asked before, "So, if you feel the same about me, would you consider doing me the honor of becoming my girlfriend?"

Elena's eyes widen while tears stream down her face, and she is shaking her head, at a loss for words.

Damon begins to back away, already preparing his heart for the worst, "I understand."

Elena reaches out, but he is too quick.

"I can't believe I just did that, how could I be so stupid to think that you could love me after all I've done!" Damon's whole body is shaking, "Of course you-"

"Damon, wait!" Elena runs across the room.

"What?" he growls, tears rolling down his cheeks.

She jumps up, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. When their lips connect, she feels electricity running through her.

Damon jumps back, still in a state of rejected confusion, "You-"

"I love you, Damon." Elena gasps.

A spark goes off in Damon's body, and in a split second, she is pushed up against the wall, their lips moving in sync.

"I love you, Elena." Damon breaths, relishing in the ability to say it freely, "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"I love you too, Damon!" She replies right before one of Damon's hands quickly slides into her hair, pulling her deeply into the kiss. As time goes on, the other hand moves slowly down to her waist, pulling her hips into his.

Elena moaned into the kiss as she feels her hips grinding against his for the first time.

Damon's lips move, kissing down her neck to her chest, letting Elena's moans ring out in the dark cavern.

He reaches the edge of her shirt and ripped it off her, sending a pang of fear and desire coursing through her. He scoops her up bridal style, and brings her over to the quilt. His lips move back up to her neck, where Damon knows he shouldn't linger, but he feels her heart racing even faster, "Don't worry, I won't bite." he whispers.

Elena smiles nervously, but the nerves dissipate the second she saw the lust burning in his eyes.

She tugs at the edge of his shirt, which he happily lets her remove, revealing his mouth watering torso. She runs her hands all over his muscles, trying to soak in all of his beauty. She tugs at his jeans, and he takes them off too, revealing a massive bulge in his boxers.

Damon distracts her from this new discovery by unclasping her bra with supernatural speed. He teases her nipples with the tip of his finger, making her squirm with pleasure.

In one motion, he removes the rest of her clothes, leaving Elena's whole body exposed.

He begins gently rubbing her clit while he kisses her. He experiments with pressing down, and moving faster, all the while listening to her moans and heavy breathing, trying to figure out just what will send her into ecstasy.

"Damon-" Elena moans, her eyes closed.

"Yes, dear?" He replies with a smirk.

When she catches her breath she whispers in his ear, "I want you inside me."

Damon does as he was told, and he flings his underwear away, revealing his thick throbbing dick. He climbs on top of her and rubs his tip against her opening, revealing that she is sopping wet from all the teasing Damon had done.

Elena briefly wonders if it would fit, but her head is in a haze of lust, and it couldn't wait, "Damon, please-" she begs.

He suddenly pushes inside her, and Elena screams, not in pain, but in surprise, as she feels herself fill up with his thick, rock hard member.

"Elena?" He asks, freezing in concern.

"Keep going-" she pants, and he continues to push slowly inside. It was tantalizing, Elena could feel her body opened up for him, but she just wanted more.

"Faster!" she moans, and he builds up speed until he is pulling almost all the way out, and slamming back in every time.

She digs her nails into his back, "Oh! My! God!" she cries out on each thrust. The pleasure is unimaginable.

Damon kisses her passionately, their lips moving as one as they moaned into the kiss. Damon flips them over with ease, breaking the kiss. His strong hands hold tight to her hips, guiding her up and down, faster and faster.

Elena leans down and presses another kiss on his lips. He pulls her close, pushing his dick as far as it can go inside her. She moans louder than ever, feeling her lower half rub against him.

Taking this chance, Damon holds her hips down, letting them grind together. Elena feels a build up that she had never felt before, not like this. With a gasp and a realization, she whispers in his ear, "I'm cumming!" just before the pulsating waves of pleasure sweep through her. Her whole body shudders as Damon continues her rush, lifting her hips fiercely up and down until a few seconds later, Damon breathes, "I'm cumming!" and Elena feels a warmth spread through her, and Damon slows to a stop.

They are both gasping for breath, overheating and sticky with sweat, but they are both smiling like mad men.

Damon is over the moon, rolling around with Elena, who is laughing and gazing into his dreamy eyes.

"Damon, I've never-" she begins, not knowing how to start.

He eyes widen, as he realizes what she meant.

Damon's curiosity turns to mock smugness in a second, "That's why the ladies love me!" he winks, and she rolls her eyes, trying her best to look annoyed, but her face breaks into a brilliant smile.

Calming down, they lay still, side by side. He turns to face her, brushing his hand gently on her check, "You're incredible." he says and he gently presses his lips against hers. They gaze into each others eyes until they can't keep them open any longer.

Soon they are fast asleep, and more in love than they ever had been.

The end!

* * *

Thanks for reading!

This is the first story I have written for this fandom, and the first I have published in probably years. However, I'm hooked on this show and on this Damon and Elena pairing!

This is just a one shot story that I had been dying to put on paper for a while now, but I have another multi-chapter story full of twists and turns that is in the works.

And please, leave as many comments as you can! I love every kind of feedback, no matter how short or how nit-picky. Your comments help me improve my writing and they keep me motivated to write more!


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